Show Notes

Dirty Dancing is one of the most iconic cult classic films of all time. But back when screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein and producer Linda Gottlieb first pitched the script, it promptly received 43 rejection letters. Studios labelled it as “too small, too soft and too girly.”

This week we break down the film’s remarkable journey. From a low-budget indie movie no one wanted, to raking in over $200 million at the box office.

The major sources for this episode include:

1. The Movies That Made Us: Dirty Dancing
2. The New York Times: Fairy Tale Without An Ending
3. Rolling Stone: Michael Douglas: It’s My Turn
4. The Guardian: Hey Baby – We’re All Swayze Now
5. TIME: Why Dirty Dancing Is Still The Perfect Fantasy 30 Years Later
6. New York Post: Dirty Dancing Redux? Jennifer Grey To Star In And Produce New Dance Film
7. Billboard: The 10 Best Charting Movie Soundtracks Ever
8. Rolling Stone: The Dirty Dancing Soundtrack: 10 Things You Didn’t Know
9. Omaha World-Herald: Roger Ebert Panned ‘Dirty Dancing’ As ‘Tired and Relentlessly Predictable.‘ 30 Years Later It’s An Overachieving Classic
10. Tampa Bay Times: Sleeper Hit ‘Dirty Dancing’ Still Hot 10 Years Later
11. Collider: Behind The Scenes of an ’80s Movie Classic
12. Vox: Dirty Dancing Was Expected to Flop. But No One Puts Baby in a Corner

From the creators of Under the Influence:
Executive Producer & Host: Terry O’Reilly
Writer & Host: Sidney O’Reilly
Director: Callie O’Reilly
Supervising Producer: Debbie O’Reilly
Researcher: Allison Pinches
Engineer: Keith Ohman
Theme music: Ian Lefeuvre & Ari Posner

This show is brought to you by the Apostrophe Podcast Company and powered by Acast.